Self-study
Numerous books describe the rules of etiquette. ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ██████ ██████ █████████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███████ █████████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ████████ ████ █████ ██ █ ███████ █████████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ████████ █████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ██ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███ ███ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████
Summarize Argument
The speaker concludes that it is absurd to label one set of behaviors as correct and another as incorrect, as is done in etiquette books. Her reasoning is that different cultures have different standards, so no one standard can be objectively correct.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The speaker’s reasoning is flawed because the etiquette books don’t have to be referring to one universal standard—a French book could be intended only to apply to France. It could then make sense for a book to describe certain behaviors as correct, if it’s only referring to one culture.
7.
The reasoning in the argument ██ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████████
a
reaches a conclusion █████ ███ ██████ ████████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ██████
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of confusing "is" for "ought." It doesn’t apply here, because the speaker doesn’t say anything about how people ought to behave.
b
bases a generalization █████ ███ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ ███ ███████
There’s no indication that the speaker is referring to only a few authors.
c
fails to justify ███ ███████████ █████████ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ██████████ ████████
The speaker makes no presumptions about the influence of rules of etiquette on individual behavior. Her argument is about the existence of standards, not their effects.
d
overlooks the possibility ████ ███████ ██ █████████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ███████ ████
The speaker’s argument misses this possibility. If a book is only referring to one culture, it’s not implying that there’s a universal standard. Its standards could be objective in the context of that particular culture.
e
attempts to lend ██████ ████████ ██ ████████ ████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ █████ ████████
The position of the authors of etiquette books is described as “incorrect,” which is notably less severe than “absurd.”